I advance on the trembling man, who drops to his knees and gapes up at me through wide eyes.
“Ali,” he rasps. “Call for help.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her reach for her purse.
I need to end this.
Now.
I shove my arm through the man’s weakened barrier and slash my claws across his neck. His head lands on the chamomile lawn with a gentle thud.
Now, it’s time to deal with my wife.
ChapterThirteen
ALIENOR
I stagger back, my gaze tearing between Norbert’s fallen body and the head tumbling into the chamomile flowers.
He’s dead.
Killed by the Boogie Man.
The Boogie Man turns to me, his wings slicing through the air. Moonlight shines through his inky black hair, coloring its ends a sinister shade of indigo.
He raises a clawed hand which now glistens with Norbert’s blood.
“You belong to me,” he snarls. “The next time you allow a man to touch you, I will tear out his heart. Then I will devour yours.”
My hand flies to my chest. The locket resting on my breastbone pulses with magic. I hold it up like a shield.
The locket is supposed to absorb evil spirits, but the Boogie Man is flesh and bone. I don’t know if my current state of alarm will call out an SOS, but since Aggie’s now in charge of helping me, I doubt she will come to my rescue.
“Y-you’ve just made a terrible mistake.” I back toward Grandma’s house.
The Boogie Man advances on me, his green eyes gleaming with malice. “Explain.”
“People can now see that you killed someone—”
“And blame you.”
My stomach plummets to the chamomile flowers. “What?”
“Your family believes your magic is malfunctioning.” He sweeps an arm toward the dead necromancer’s corpse. “This suitor of yours was attacked in the same manner as your cousin.”
I stop moving, my legs turning rigid.
He has a point.
The whole reason why I’m here in Grandma’s guesthouse is because she and Aunt Klara don’t believe I can be trusted to wield my own power. They want to present my predicament to the rest of the coven so they can decide if my magic gets bound.
Shit.
Triumph flashes in his eyes, accompanied by an inhumanly broad smile.
I gulp. “You realize that if they blame me for Norbert’s death, I’ll get executed?”
“Then the curse you cast on me will end,” he replies with a nod.